Squad 14
by shinigami-shane
Summary: Ichigo dies in the real world, but exits his body first. Retaining all of his memories and past experiences, Ichigo heads to Seireitei for the final time. Pairings undecided; suggestions welcomed. Rated M just to be safe.
1. Book 1: Finality

**_Book 1: Shinōreijutsuin_**

Sixty years after the winter war, Kurosaki Ichigo's human body finally died. His family were not sad though as they had all inherited his latent shinigami spiritual powers and knew that he was not truly dead, merely no longer living. After he had watched his own funeral he opened the Senkaimon and entered through it, going from Earth to Soul Society. When he was in Soul Society he said, "Hi, how're you doing?" to the gate guards, who were levelling their pikes at him.

One of the guards demanded. "Who are you? We haven't received any reports on any shinigami coming back today."

"Uhh...Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Who?" one of the other gate guards asked.

"Hey, he's that substitute shinigami...you know...the one from that battle against the Arrancar."

"Really? He doesn't look anything like what I thought he would...I mean, besides the hair."

"So what did you think I'd look like?" Ichigo asked, for some reason really irritated at the guards words.

"Well...my group thought that you'd be all muscle-bound...you know...like the 11th squad captain."

"Why?"

"Well...in the academy we were told that you only ever used your Zanpakutō, and since by all reckoning the only ones that do that are the blockheads in the 11th squad."

"So you thought that I was a blockhead, did you?"

"Uhh..." the second guard said, realising that he had just dug himself into a massive hole that he had no hope of climbing out of.

"Ahh, buck up, I'm just messing with you. Seriously though, how do I sign up as a proper shinigami?"

"Wait...you're not here to save Seireitei this time?"

"No. I just died about a week ago. I'm here for good this time."

"I see...that's good." the first guard said.

"Why?" Ichigo asked.

"Most of the shinigami nowadays are relatively green...there only experience dealing with hollow being a training exercise in the academy...even then it's in a controlled situation with pseudo-hollow."

"I see," Ichigo said, "So, like I said, where do I go from here?"

"Hmm...I'd head on over to the 1st Division HQ."

"Okay, can you show me where that is?"

"Yeah sure...no...actually just let out some of your reiatsu, that should call some of the higher-ups here...actually no...don't do that. I'll take you to the 1st Division HQ."

"Alright, lead the way," Ichigo said, indicating for the guard to go first.

XXXXX

Eight minutes later Ichigo was standing before the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13. He said, "Unohana-san?"

"Kurosaki-san? What are you doing here?"

"I just recently passed away in the Living World...but enough about that, where's Yama-jii?"

"Still forgetting to place the proper honorific after a persons name are we Kurosaki-san?"

"Well...looks like some things never change."

"But some things do. Genryūsai-dono is no longer the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13...I am."

"You are...so..."

"Genryūsai-dono couldn't get over the recent death of Chōjirō Sasakibe and started making reckless decisions that caused the current captains to appeal to the Central 46 to force him to step down."

"So who's running the Fourth Squad now?"

"Isane is."

"She has a Bankai now?"

"It has been around sixty years Kurosaki-san. No seated office can stay in their position if they don't continuously dedicate themselves to learning more to cover current weaknesses."

"Hey hey, I didn't mean it like that. I was just curious, that's all."

"Oh. So I suppose that you wish to discuss your future as a full-fledged shinigami then?"

"Well...I was hoping to, yes."

"I see...well, I've been informed that Zaraki-taichō is very determined to get you into his squad."

"Please no, please no, please no!" Ichigo plead.

"To be quite honest I'm tempted to just form another squad for you to lead...however..."

"The time that I've spent away from here may have dulled my skills...is that what you're thinking?"

"No, not me. It's just that there will likely be some that think that way and either object to the formation of another squad, and some members of that squad may think that you are some kind of push-over, or look to make a name for themselves, thinking that you were an easy target..."

"I see...so what would you suggest?"

"Hmm...I would suggest a period of time as a seated officer of one of the current divisions...of course there is the problem that right now you would only really fit into the Eleventh Division, which I hear you are not planning to have much contact with."

"Okay...so what should I do then?"

"Well...there is always Shinōreijutsuin."

"Shinōreijutsuin?"

"It is literally translated as Spiritual Arts Academy, but is more commonly referred to as the Shinigami Academy, where all prospective shinigami go to learn the basic skills that shinigami use, both for combat and for supportive purposes."

"I see...so that would allow me to gain experience with using other combat methods, thereby making me fit into one of the other squads?"

"Exactly..."

"Alright then let's do thi..."

"However," Unohana-taichō said, interrupting Ichigo. "Ever since the Winter War that has been included as part of the lessons on the history of soul society."

"Yeah, so I've heard."

"You have?"

"Yeah, Minato was quite the talker," The gate guard said.

"It seems that all that got into the lessons about my appearance was that I have bright orange hair."

"I see. Well even so, there is no other shinigami in all of Seireitei with hair that colour. So,..." Unohana flash-stepped behind Ichigo, placing her hand on the top of his head and said, "Kidō #1: Heakea: Midoriiro," as she did Ichigo's hair turned from orange to green, spreading out from Unohana's hand. "There, that should do it for the appearance...now all we need is a name..."

"A name?! What're you talking about?"

"Well, as you said, all they know is your hair colour and your name, this is a way around it...Ah! Shin'ichi...Aosaki Shin'ichi."

"Oi oi," Ichigo said in a low tone, indicating his disbelief at Unohana's obsession with the colour green.

"Okay, Shin'ichi, you'll need to go through the proper processes for enrolment for the Shinigami Academy. Luckily the entrance exams take place in roughly three weeks."

"Luckily? Why is that?"

"Because, Kurosaki-san, while some student do take swords into the academy with them, the swords are never so distinct as yours is."

"Okay, so what...I leave it here with you?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Unohana said in a surprised tone. "You will just need to find a way to seal it into the form of a normal sword. That's all."

"That's all is it," Ichigo said in a flat tone.

"Yes. Normally it is not a problem, but since you seem to still have your reiatsu control problems, you'll need to enter jinzen and ask the spirit of your Zanpakutō to grant you the ability to seal it into a normal sword form."

"Okay, where can I do that?"

"Although it shouldn't take too long, it would be ideal for you to do this where I can oversee your training."

"Alright," Ichigo said, resting his sword on his lap. When he closed his eyes he was already in his inner world. When he saw the spirit of his Zanpakutō he said, "Hey Zangetsu, it's been a while."

"Indeed it has Ichigo. It is good to see you again."

"So, you must know what I want," Ichigo more stated than asked, knowing from past experiences that anything he knew so did Zangetsu.

"Indeed I do."

"And?"

"I will seal your sword for you...although that means that you will need to learn how to fight without relying on the greater weight of me."

"Alright. I'll come here whenever I can to train...that hollow is still around, isn't he?"

"Yes. Although it is strange for you to be asking about him after all this time."

"Not really. He's like a version of me that already knows the extent of my powers, which makes him the greatest training partner that I could hope for."

"I see...Very well then, when you leave this place I will have sealed myself into the form of a chokutō since it functions in a similar way to my Shikai..."

"Okay, than..."

"I'm not finished yet."

"Oh, sorry about that. I thought you were."

"I had thought that after all this time you would have learnt a little of patience."

"Well, I suppose that I did in my real body back on earth, but it never really transferred on to my Shinigami form...I'm not sure why."

"Well...anyway...if I am to be sealed, then you will also need to know how to unseal me."

"Oh! Of course! I'd completely forgotten about that!"

"Yes, well I suppose that that is only to be expected, not having any contact with other shinigami for more than half a century."

"So how do I do it?"

"Unsealing a zanpakutō's true form usually requires the use of a release command or phrase. This can be overcome once the shinigami knows Bankai. For our current purposes it would be best if you did use a release phrase however. My release phrase is 'tear'(1)."

When Ichigo returned from his inner world Unohana told him to follow one of her guards to the 12th Squad Barracks to talk to Mayuri about getting a device to limit his reiatsu to that of a seated officer instead of his current level of the previous Captain-Commander.

2 weeks later he had two wristbands that sealed one third of his reiatsu each as, according to Mayuri, any more and he would be overpowered by his own power if he tried to remove it after an indeterminate period of time and a modified sheathe that opened up lengthwise when Shin'ichi pushed a button on the end of his Zanpakuto's hilt. It could also be drawn like a normal sword. A week after that, he turned up to the Shinōreijutsuin to take the enrolment exam.

XXXXXXX

Author's notes:

(1) tear = the ripping apart of something by force


	2. Entrance Exam

When Shin'ichi arrived at Shinōreijutsuin, clad in a set of clothes that he was told were in a style that was commonly worn in Rukongai, he saw that, contrary to what he had believed, there were actually many people applying to become a student at the academy. This was evidenced by the queue that he saw coming from the front of the building. He went up to one of the people at the end of the line and asked, "Hey, are you here for the entrance exam?"

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" a twenty year old, with red hair that slanted back and to the right, said, turning to look at Shin'ichi. Seeing the sword in Shin'ichi's belt he asked, "Can you use that or is it just for decoration?"

"Huh?" Shin'ichi asked, gaining the scowl that easily came to his face at the man's attitude.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" Shin'ichi said, mimicking the irritating man.

"Hnh," the redhead said, thinking, _'Probably all talk,' _and looked away, not answering Shin'ichi's question.

The girl next to him, who was quite a bit shorter than her brother but with equally red hair spiking down in a ponytail, said, "Oh don't take any notice of my brother. Yes, this is the line for the entrance exams...mmm...sorry, I don't think I quite caught your name."

"Your right, you didn't..." Shin'ichi said, pausing before he continued, "...It's Shin'ichi."

"Shin'ichi huh?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"No no, I've just never met anyone with that particular name, that's all."

"I see, so how long have you been here for?"

"About two hours now. Apparently the 'noble' candidates get to go first."

"Well there's fair for ya," Shin'ichi said, "I just hope that we don't end up in the same classes as any of those pompous bastards."

"How can you be that confident about getting in?" the girl asked, suddenly suffering a bout of nerves before Shin'ichi's confident dismissal of the tests.

"It's easy really...umm..."

"Akane," The twenty year old supplied.

"Akane...right, well just think of it this way. I need to pass so I will."

"It's that easy?"

"It's that easy."

"Huh...wait...how did you...?"

"How did I? How did I what?"

"Well, I've been intermittently feeling a bout of nerves for the past few days, now they've completely disappeared."

"Oh...well...that's good...I guess," Shin'ichi said, unsure of what to say. "Say, do you know what they test you on here?"

"I don't really know. Rumour says that they test you on 4 areas, speed, swordsmanship, reiatsu control and possibly hand to hand combat."

"So, what are you expecting to score higher marks in?" Shin'ichi asked the two, clearly, twins.

"Well, I'm hoping to score high in reiatsu control, while Arata is hoping to get a passing grade in hand to hand, what about you, Shin'ichi-san?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm a shoe-in for the swordsmanship part, probably hopeless n the reiatsu control part, other than that, who knows?"

"Well, I'm not too physically strong so I doubt I'll do any good in anything other than reiatsu control."

"Oh, buck up, you won't know unless you try, right?" Shin'ichi said with a smile on his face.

Three and a half hours of uncomfortable silence later the twins and Shin'ichi reached the doors. Looking inside they saw that there were still twenty or so people lining up in front of them. Shin'ichi dramatically and sighed said, "Well, looks like we're almost there."

Arata exclaimed, "What are you, crazy?! There's still like twenty people left!"

"Well, compare it to the fifty that were outside, plus the extra twenty that were before them, and it evens out pretty well, doesn't it?"

"Hmm...if you think of it that way, I guess."

Akane thought, _'Oh, I like this guy, he doesn't take Arata's attitude lying down, if I had to guess, I'd say that he doesn't take anybody else's attitude much better.'_

80 minutes later Akane and Arata tried to enter at the same time, but were blocked by an entrance officer that said, "Sorry, but only one person is allowed entry to the exam room at a time."

"Oh," Akane said, "Well then Arata, you can go first then."

"Alright!" Arata said, pumping his fist into the air, "I'm gonna do this!"

"Good luck," said Akane.

"Yeah, break a leg," Shin'ichi said, wishing the man, that he barely knew, luck in his exam.

4 and a half minutes later Shin'ichi was called into the room. When he got there he saw that there was a panel of five examiners at the front of the room, the one on the far left was wearing a blue scarf. The one in the middle said, "Okay, since you've waited so long to get here would you like to start right away?"

"Sure," Shin'ichi bluntly said, not one to waste his words.

"First of all we will need your name."

"Aosaki Shin'ichi."

"Aosaki Shin'ichi, right," The man in the middle said as he wrote Shin'ichi's name down on one of the many identical forms on his desk. "Now Shin'ichi, what would you like to start off with?"

"I'm sorry, I just recently got here and am unfamiliar with what I am being tested on."

"I see. Well you are here to be tested on your aptitude for the shinigami arts. They include Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō."

"Alright then, since you're the examiners, why don't you decide?"

"Alright then," The man in the middle said, as he thought, _'Since he has his own sword we might as well test him on that first.' _"Alright, first up is Zanjutsu," he turned to the judge on the far left and said, "Aloysius, you're up."

"Very well, headmaster," Aloysius said as he got up from his seat. When he was standing opposite Shin'ichi he said, "Normally we use bokken for this test, but since you have your own sword I'm going going to allow you to use it. Keeping in mind of course that I shall be using my Zanpakutō."

"Huh?" Shin'ichi exclaimed, "Isn't that a bit much for a test?"

"Normally yes, but I think that you should be able to handle it."

Shin'ichi smirked and said, "Alright then gramps, you can even go first," as he drew his own Zanpakutō from its new sheath.

"Why thank you," Aloysius said, and appeared in front of Shin'ichi, blade already swinging to decapitate him. Shin'ichi ducked beneath the blow and brought his sword around, cutting the instructor in half. After Shin'ichi's sword passed through the instructor the scarf he was wearing appeared in place of him, cut in half instead of the instructor, who said, "Onmitsu Shunpo Shihō no San: Utsusemi(1)," from behind Shin'ichi, thrusting his sword at Shin'ichi's Hakusui(2). It pierced through, but it wasn't Shin'ichi, but a speed clone left behind by his using Shunpo to avoid being hit. Shin'ichi appeared behind Aloysius with his sword up against Aloysius' neck. Aloysius said, "Alright, I concede," in a laughing tone. "Although...I do have _one_ minor problem."

"Oh, and what would that be exactly?"

"You just avoided my blade using a technique that falls squarely under Hohō."

"I don't think that you have any reason to complain, after all, that Utsusemi that you used is also a Hohō technique."

"Oh, and how would you know that exactly? Didn't you 'just get here'?"

"I was lucky...or unlucky enough to see a shinigami use those techniques against a hollow one day. I managed to somehow imitate that after-image technique...but that was it."

"I see," Aloysius said, "Well then, I'm sorry for doubting you."

"That's fine," Shin'ichi said, "Water off the ducks back, right?"

"Indeed," Aloysius said, thinking, _'I don't know what you're hiding, but I'll find out,' _as he returned to his seat.

The headmaster said, "Well then, since you can clearly use Hohō techniques, there is no need to test you one them. Do you agree, Katashi?"

"Yes, I concur," Katashi, a brown haired man with a comb-over, that had hair extending off the side of his head said.

"Alright, Akemi, you're up next then."

"Right," A woman that appeared to be in her early thirties, whose blonde hair hung back in a ponytail, said, "Okay, Shin'ichi, I'm going to say an incantation and show you how to execute it, then I want you to cast it. Alright?" As she walked towards Ichigo a shinigami that was on the side of the room rushed over and placed a training dummy in the centre of the floor.

"Yeah, sure," Shin'ichi said, thinking, _'I hope it's not a low-level Kidō.'_

"The pale tide when the moon has set, the people of coming days will know about the casting of my net, Bakudo #1: Sai," Akemi said, pointing at the dummy with her index and middle fingers, causing the dummy's arms to lock behind its back.

Ichigo thought, _'Dammit!'_

"Now, you try," Akemi instructed.

"Alright," Ichigo said, thinking, _'Well, here goes somethin',' _and said, "The pale tide when the moon has set, the people of coming days will know about the casting of my net, Bakudo #1: Sai." The arms of the dummy tore off of it and went flying about five meters in the opposite direction from whence they came.

Akemi's eyes widened to comic proportions as her mouth worked like a goldfish. "But...that's not..." then, regaining control of her actions, screamed, "FAIL!"

Aloysius said, "Well, technically he _did_ cast it..." causing all of the other heads of faculty to look at him askance. "What?" He innocently asked.

"While certainly impressive in one sense, there is _no way _that that can be classified as a successful implementation of Bakudo #1: Sai," the final instructor said.

"Well, if you look at it that way..." Aloysius said, conceding that indeed Ichigo's attempt seemed more appropriate as being classified as a Hadō.

As Akemi returned to her seat the last instructor, a woman that was an acting teacher from the Second Division, got up from her seat and moved to stand opposite Ichigo as the training dummy...or...what was left of it...was removed from the floor. She said, "I'll be testing you in Hakuda."

"Alright," Ichigo said, knowing that he was acceptable in Hakuda, but far more proficient in Zanjutsu.

The woman appeared to Ichigo's side, kicking him in his stomach before he could even register that she was there. Ichigo slid back a few metres. As he came to a stop, the woman appeared next to him once again, but this time Ichigo was waiting for it and used a small flash-step to leave the range of her kick, and then flash-stepped once again, this time going forward, spinning at the same time in order for his kick to gain both speed and power, and kicked her grounded leg out from under her. She flipped in mid-air, kicking Ichigo in his chin as it passed him, knocking him into the air. She immediately spun into another kick when her first foot was grounded, kicking Ichigo into the far wall as he was still in the air at the time of impact. Ichigo got out of the wall holding his chin and declared, "Oi! That was a cheap shot!" and flash-stepped in front of the instructor, kicking her with the full force of his normal strength, plus the increased speed due to his use of Shunpo, ending up with enough power to send her into the desk of the Headmaster. As the woman got up she growled out, "Why you..." before the Headmaster said, "Alright, I'm letting him pass that one too," in order to stop the two, admittedly incomparable, but still both strong in their own right, Hakuda fighters before they could injure each other too much. "Congratulations Shin'ichi, you are now a student of this academy, go out of that door on the right of us in order to receive your Shihakushō."

The female Hakuda instructor said, "But I..."

"That's enough," The Headmaster said, "It is clear that he is of a passable level in Hakuda, is he not?"

"Yes," The woman said, looking away..

Ichigo then left the room to receive his blue and white Shihakushō.

XXXXXXX

Author's Notes

(1) Onmitsu Shunpo Shihō no San: Utsusemi = Way of Onmitsu, 3rd of the Shihō: Molting Cicada

(2) Hakusui = Soul Sleep


	3. Kuchiki Daiki

As Shin'ichi entered the room off of the main one he saw that it was currently being used as a clothes depot and saw the twins getting ready to leave, each now wearing their respective uniforms. He called out, "Hey, you two, wait up a second."

Arata called over his shoulder, "Not gonna happen," not realising that it was Shin'ichi that was talking.

Akane, however, turned around to see who called out to them and, seeing Shin'ichi, she tugged on her brother's arm and said, "Hey, it's Shin'ichi-san."

"Shin'ichi...Shin'ichi...sorry, don't know that name."

"Oi oi," Shin'ichi said, one of many future scowls forming on his face.

"Forgive him Shin'ichi-san, my brother has memory problems when it comes to names," she then grabbed her brother by the shoulder of his new Kosode, forcibly turning him around, even though he could have easily resisted, and demanded, "Say your sorry!"

"Oh, it's you," Arata said, "Sure, we'll wait for ya."

"Cool," Shin'ichi said, not really expecting an apology forthcoming, "Just give us a sec 'n' I'll be right with you."

XXXXX

5 minutes later Shin'ichi had retrieved his student's Shihakushō and went over to the twins, who proceeded to take him to a bar in their home district and Shin'ichi started to look at the drinks list. While he perused the drinks list Arata called over a waiter and said, "Can I please have a Mai Tai for my sister and a Baijiu for me and my friend please?"

Shin'ichi said, "Bai-what-now?"

"Baijiu,"Arata said, "it's a drink that is commonly used in this district to celebrate special occasions."

"Special occasions?"

"Yeah, you know, things like the rise of a new 'Boss' or, in this case, the successful application to join the Shinōreijutsuin."

"No! Akane said, finally starting to listen to her brother's attempts to get her new friend to drink the horrid rocket fuel. "Don't listen to him Shin'ichi-san, that stuff is undrinkable!"

"Don't listen to Akane, she just has a weak stomach for liquor."

"I..."

"Don't worry Akane, neither do I. I think that I'll just have whatever passes as whiskey and some sort of soft drink here."

"So, you like cocktails too Shin'ichi-san?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, I never could tolerate any strong drinks."

"Oh thank the lord," Akane said, "It's always a pain when I have to drag Arata home after he starts on the Baijiu."

"I thought that it was only drunk on 'special occasions'?"

"It _is_ drunk on special occasions, unfortunately it is also drunk every other day as well. It also happens to be a drink favoured by some of the noble clans that come by here every so often. There is usually a big fight that happens too."

"I see," Shin'ichi said, thinking, _'I hope that no 'nobles' come by then.'_

"Well then, let's hope that no nobles come by then."

"Enough about that though, how'd you go in the exams?"

"Oh I aced it...well, except the Kidō bit anyway."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, apparently I'm in Remedial Kidō."

"Remedial...I didn't even know that there were remedial classes!"

"Yeah, well I don't think that they take it too well when you destroy a training dummy."

"You...but how?"

"I don't know. All I know is that one minute it was fine, then, the next, its arms were flying away."

"Wow...I don't even have the words to..."

"Yeah. But I made up for it in the other parts."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I got into advanced Hakuda, Hohō and Zanjutsu."

"Really? I only got into advanced Kidō and Hohō. I got into intermediate Zanjutsu and basic Hakuda."

"I see," Shin'ichi said, pausing before continuing, "Hey, Arata, how'd you go?"

"Me, I got," Arata said before taking a shot of Baijiu, "Advanced Zanjutsu," another shot, "Advanced Hakuda and intermediate Hohō."

"What about Kidō?"

"Basic...bah, who needs it? I'm gonna join the Eleventh Division anyway."

"The Eleventh?" Shin'ichi half-asked.

"Yeah, they're so cool! They do all their fights without relying on anything so annoyingly pathetic as Kidō."

"Hey!" Akane yelled, still irritated by her brothers continuous total disregard of her favourite skill.

"The only squad that focuses solely on Kidō, is the Kidō Corps, and _they_ aren't part of the Gotei 13."

"How many times do I have to tell you, the Kidō Corps may not strictly be a part of the 13 Divisions, but they are still aligned to the Gotei 13." Akane realised that Shin'ichi was still with them and, to include him in their 'discussion', asked, "Shini'chi-san, do you have any idea which division you want to join?"

"Hmm...to tell you the truth...not really. I know that I don't want to join the Eleventh Division, and there's _no way_ that I could possibly end up in the Fourth Division...but other than that..."

"See, there's more to fighting than mere slice and dice."

"Hai, hai," Arata said in a sarcastic tone.

"Anyway," Akane said, turning back to Shin'ichi, "Which district did you come here from Shin'ichi-san?"

"Me?" Shin'ichi said, pointing at himself, thinking, '_Where did Rukia say she was from? A number in the seventies I think it was...hmm...given my marks it would probably make sense to come from a similar district.' _Shin'ichi said, "District 64: Sabitsura(1)," not knowing that most of the Eleventh Squad members came from around that district. "What about you?"

"We came from District 50: Kuchiba(2) What was it like in that district? I heard that after our district 50 it becomes really lawless and violent."

"Yeah, I don't think that it was all that bad, granted there were some thugs, but most of them were just that, thugs."

"I see," Akane said, "It was just the opposite with us, there were some tough guys that kept everyone in line, but they relied mostly on their subordinates to enforce their will upon us, but most of the enforcers had some limited skills as potential shinigami."

"So, does that mean that you were one of these 'enforcer' guys?"

"No. We were lucky enough to remain unnoticed until a shinigami came to our district and said that we should try to become Shinigami ourselves...so, here we are, on our way to becoming full-fledged Shinigami."

"Hah," A voice, belonging to a seemingly young man with black hair, two locks placed in a Kenseikan and wearing a long, silver/green, scarf made from Silks of the Leucadendron, from the next table scoffed, "As if you rabble could ever hope to amount to anything in your own districts, let alone become a Shinigami."

Arata, well and truly drunk by now, said, "Who d'ya t'ink you are? 'n' who 'r' _youz l't_ ta tell _us_ what we c'n do?"

One of his henchman said, "He is the great Kuchiki Daiki, Second Cousin of the noble captain of the Sixth Squad, Kuchiki Byakuya, and third in line for the position of head of the Kuchiki Clan."

"Oh," Shini'chi said, turning back to continue his conversation with Akane. Unfortunately, Arata couldn't let it go, and said, "I d'n't c're who ya 'r' or 'bout s'me stinkin' t'tl' th't ya g't by b'rth! All 'at 'atters 'n the r'l w'rld is th's," grabbing his right bicep, causing Shin'ichi to clamp his hand over his eyes, thinking, '_That idiot! The only thing that Kuchiki's hate more than disrespect, is someone that they consider beneath them treating them as an equal._'

"Begone from my sight, filth!" Daiki said, turning to look at the, in his mind, insignificant primates that were in his way.

"Filth!" Arata yelled, "I'll give you filth!" and threw his fist at the arrogant noble, which was easily swatted aside by one of the henchmen, who then hit Arata, knocking him out easily due to his intoxicated state.

As Daiki turned away he brought the force of his lieutenant-level reiatsu down onto Shin'ichi and Akane, who were still relatively sober, in an attempt to intimidate them into submission. This didn't go over too well with the disguised Shin'ichi, who stepped between Akane and the irate noble, using his own reiatsu to defend against Daiki's, which, due to it's being sealed, was also lieutenant-level. Daiki looked up in surprise what Shin'ichi had done. He turned back to look at him and coldly said, "You...outside, now!"

"You want to fight me?" Shin'ichi asked, curious as to why the noble would want to fight him.

Two of Daiki's henchmen grabbed Shin'ichi by his arms and 'escorted' him outside the bar, followed by Daiki, whom was ignoring Akane's pleas to just overlook her brother's stupidity, any any events that that 'may have' caused. When they were all outside, Daiki said, "I, Daiki, son of Daichi, challenge you to a duel."

"Huh?" Shin'ichi exclaimed, surprised that after all that had happened the stuck up noble would try to keep some kind of formality about the situation.

"When entering into an honour duel it is customary to tell the opponent the name of the one that they are fighting, and their lineage."

"A what-now?" Shin'ichi asked, unfamiliar with the concept of fighting for honour, when all of his experience fighting was done only when needed to.

"An honour duel is as the name implies, a duel to reclaim ones honour."

"Reclaim...honour? What the hell are you on about?"

"You are a stain upon my honour, and any stains upon me reflect back onto the Kuchiki Clan. As such I need to regain my honour by beating you. Now, about the rules of this due..."

"There's only one rule in a fight, kid," Shin'ichi said, realising that& the person in front of him likely hadn't been in a real fight in his life, "The winner takes all."

"Rubbish. Duels are to be fought only for honour or protection."

"Honour & protection? What do you mean?"

"The honour of yourself, your squad and your clan. Or to protect Seireitei."

Shin'ichi sighed and said, "You have no intention of backing down, do you?"

"No," Daiki stated firmly, before disappearing from the sight of most of the people that had exited the bar to watch the two fight. Shin'ichi on the other hand, having fought against Byakuya, an undisputed master of Hohō techniques, had no problem keeping up with the noble's speed and pressed the button that he'd had Mayuri add to his zanpakuto, releasing his sword from it. He then brought it up, point down, in one hand, blocking Daiki's two-handed strike with the Asauchi that he had received to practice his Zanjutsu.

Seeing Shin'ichi's apparent ease in blocking his strike, Daiki's eyes widened in shock. Daiki then struck at Shin'ichi repeatedly disappearing and reappearing, but each time Shin'ichi easily blocked him. Shin'ichi said, "I don't know what technique it is that you're using, but it decreases the strength of your attacks. Even with your powerful reiatsu, right now you're barely at the level of a thirteenth seat."

Daiki growled in anger as he thought, _'Damn it! This guy's seen through my__Awaipo(3). Ah well, looks like I'll need to change my strategy a bit.__' _He then disappeared and then reappeared before Shin'ichi using Awaipo and said, "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat! Bakudo #9: Hōrin," and moved his index and forefinger of his right hand to the left, causing an orange hued tendril with spiralling yellow patterns to wrap around Shin'ichi's blade and then threw his right hand to the right, sending his blade off to the side. Shin'ichi momentarily looked away from Daiki to where his blade had fallen, giving him time to say, "Hadō #4: Byakurai," a concentrated, powerful lightning bolt from shooting from his left index finger, aiming to tear through Shin'ichi's left shoulder, but it went straight through Shin'ichi. Daiki said, "What the..." as the Shin'ichi that he saw get pierced through with his Kidō fade away.

"Hohō technique #3: Speed Clone," Shin'ichi provided as he picked up his sword from where it had fallen.

"Hohō?" Daiki said as he thought, _'So that's how he could keep up with me when I was using Awaipo. According to Byakuya-mataitoko(4) that technique can only be used by a skilled practitioner of Shunpo...which means fighting with speed will truly be futile...damn it, he hasn't been taking this seriously right from the start!' _He growled in anger as he charged at Shin'ichi, this time without using any technique in order to give him an advantage, knowing that anything he used would be almost completely useless against his current foe. Instead he forced his reiatsu into his blade in order to increase its attacking potential.

When Daiki clashed with Shin'ichi this time, Shin'ichi was actually forced to grasp his sword with his other hand in order to block Daiki's attack. Shin'ichi thought, _'That one was actually pretty strong. He must have dropped that weird Pseudo-Shunpo(5), although that was kind of obvious by his lack of speed when he crossed the distance between us...maybe I shytould start to take this more seriously...hmm...' _as Daiki repeatedly clashed his sword against Shin'ichi's own. Eventually Shin'ichi thought, _'Ah hell, enough is enough,'_ and let Daiki's attack overpower his defence, causing him to over balance, letting Shin'ichi hit Daiki's sword just above its hilt with enough force to knock it free. Shin'ichi used Shunpo to get the sword while it was flying in mid-air. When he landed he said coldly, "You said that this was a duel, correct?"

"Yes," Daiki said angrily. "What of it?"

"Then I'm taking this sword as my prize."

"What? I thought that I told you that a duel is only to be fought for..."

"I know, but that's only your belief. You should consider yourself lucky that I was your opponent."

"Lucky? How am I lucky?" Daiki spat.

"If you were fighting against an eleventh squad member, then you'd be dead," Shin'ichi said as he turned to Arata and Akane and said, "let's go you guys, I've lost my ability to celebrate anything right now."

Akane sighed and said, "Alright," as she placed her brother's arm over her shoulders and started to walk back to the academy with Shin'ichi. When they got to the academy gates Shin'ichi said, "Yeah, I'll see you two later, right now I need to go take care of some errands, alright?"

"Yeah, sure thing Shin'ichi-san," Akane said, moving off to sneak her brother into her dorm for the night since she had no intention of entering the boys dorms with only her drunken brother for support should any of the guys in the dorm get any funny ideas.

XXXXX

As soon as Shin'ichi had left his new friends he used Shunpo(6) to appear in Unohana's office. She looked up from her paperwork and said, "Shin'ichi-san, I wasn't expecting to see you for quite some time."

"Yeah, well there's this problem that you're probably going to get word of tomorrow morning that I thought I should tell you about."

"Oh," Unohana-Sōtaichō said, her face taking on a weird glow, "and what problem would that be?"

"Uhh..." Shin'ichi said, starting to have sweat-drops appear running down his face.

"Speak now please," Unohana-taichō said, the glow not stopping.

"Well...I just...kinda...got into a fight with some stuck up brat named Daiki...he's probably a Kuchiki going by the scarf and Kenseikan."

"I see. Thank you for telling me...what was the fight about exactly?"

"The damned fool forced his reiatsu upon the people at the bar, after calling them rabble...I countered his reiatsu with my own, and he challenged me to some kind of honour duel or something...suffice it to say that I won."

Retsu looked at Shin'ichi's waist and, seeing his new Asauchi and asked, "Did you take that from him?" nodding to the new sword at his waist.

"Yeah," Shin'ichi replied. "I figured that he'd probably be getting a new one soon enough anyway, so no harm no foul, right?"

"Indeed. Normally that _would _be the case, unfortunately, the Kuchiki get their nameless swords custom made by the smiths of the Kasumiōji clan."

"I see," Shin'ichi said, grinning evilly, "then I think that I'll head on over to pay Lurichiyo a visit."

"Oh, to do what exactly?"

"Oh, nothing too bad, just hopefully doing you a favour by putting a stop to Daiki's arrogant attitude."

"How are you intending on doing that exactly?"

"I'll take care of that, it won't affect the Kuchiki clan as a whole, so there should be no problems for you."

"Very well then. I shall leave Daiki's _adjustments_ to you then."

"Thank you, Unohana-Sōtaichō," Shin'ichi said before using Shunpo to return to Shinōreijutsuin. When he got there he headed to the dorm that he was to share with Arata. Not finding his room-mate, and friend, Shin'ichi figured that his sister probably took him to her room, not wanting to go through the entire boys dormitory to get to his room. He laid his two swords down at the end of his bed and changed into the pyjamas that had been provided on the end of his bed before laying down on his bed and falling asleep.

XXXXXX

A/N

Translations

(1) Sabitsura = Rusted Face

(2) Kuchiba = Decayed Leav

(3) Awaipo = Light Step - A step technique that increases the users speed, by fooling the users muscles to believe that the user is half as heavy as they truly are. This method results in an equivalent reduction in power. This is taught to Noble's with a decent chance of becoming head of their respective clan. This is so that, should they need to, they can get away from an attacker if they are yet to fully complete any form of combat training. As such it is almost counterproductive to utilise in an actual fight.

(4) Mataitoko = Elder second cousin

(5) Pseudo-Shunpo = False Flash-step

(6) Shunpo = Flash-step

Notes

Please review people. If you don't I may discontinue the story until such time I feel like writing it.


	4. Shinōreijutsuin

The next morning Shin'ichi woke up at about six and had a shower, in the bathroom that was attached to their room. After he got dressed in his students Shihakushō he headed to the Academy's cafeteria to get breakfast. He had what they were calling Eggs Benedict, but was in reality a pseudo-burger that consisted of an egg, bacon and hollandaise sauce between two muffins. He separated the pseudo-burger and tried to eat it as you would a proper Eggs Benedict and found that it was, truly, horrendous. After he finished that off, topped with a glass of apple juice, he headed over to the Kasumiōji manor as there were no classes that day. When he got there he was met by Kenzaki Ryūsei(1), who had felt his, admittedly diminished., reiatsu approaching, bypassing the commotion that would have occurred otherwise. Seeing the green haired Shinigami in his Student Shihakushō, Kenryū struggled to contain his laughter. Finally calming down, he asked, "What happened to you?"

"The Captain-Commander wants me to go through the traditional channels to become a full Shinigami, and I agree with her."

"Okay, so why are you here then?"

"Ah, that," Ichigo said in a grave tone. "I need to speak with Lurichiyo."

"Very well. She has been looking forward to a visit from you for quite some time."

"Yeah, sorry, but I could never really make any time for that...work...you know."

"Yes. I understand. As does she."

"Ah, good," Ichigo said, thinking that if she was against meeting him then the chances of her helping him would be lessened considerably.

"I'll take you to her," Kenryū said, allowing him entry to the clan compound.s

"Thanks," Ichigo said as he followed Kenryū through the compound and into the main manor.

When they made it inside Kenryū said, "Announcing, One Kurosaki Ichigo, seeking an audience with you, your highness," in an officious tone.

Lurichiyo looked up from her piles of paperwork and, seeing Ichigo's current state, laughed. She laughed long and hard, stopping only when Kenryū coughed. She said, "Oh! I beg your pardon Ichigo...but just the sight of you in that ghastly get-up..." Ichigo sighed, silently agreeing with her, but explained his situation nonetheless. "Okay," Lurichiyo said, "If that's the case, why are you here and not in class?"

"There're no classes today, and I find myself in need of your assistance."

"My assistance?" Lurichiyo said, "Of course I'll help you in any way I can, but I don't see how I..."

"It's a simple matter really. I need you to refuse to make a replacement Asauchi(2) for Kuchiki Daiki."

"Refuse to...Why? Our relations with the Kuchiki clan have always been kind of strained but..."

"I see. Well, I need to 'adjust' Daiki's attitude, and I figure that this' probably a good place to start. You see, he and I got into a bit of a fight last night, and I won and took this Asauchi from him," Shin'ichi said, producing the Asauchi that he won from Daiki. "Unohana-Sōtaichō has kindly allowed me to take care of the 'adjustments', so long as it does not become a problem for her."

"Very well," Lurichiyo said, "consider it done," tearing up the sheet that she was working on and retrieving another, this one stating the refusal of the request for a replacement sword.

"What should I do with this one?" Shin'ichi asked, having no idea what to do with a soulless sword when he already had a sword _with _a Zanpakutō spirit residing in it.

"Keep it," Lurichiyo said, "Those swords take on the reiatsu of their possessor and become Zanpakutō. You already have your own Zanpakutō, so who knows? Either way, leave it here with us for a few days, right now that thing has some of this Kuchiki Daiki's reiatsu in it. We'll wipe it clean for you."

"Alright, thanks," Shin'ichi said, handing the blade to Kenryū before leaving back the way he had come.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Arata woke up, lying on the floor of his sister's dormitory room. Forgetting that they were no longer in their house, he stood up and stripped to enter the bathroom attached to the room. When he entered the blonde inside shrieked as she had just exited the shower herself and was clad only in a towel. Arata's eyes widened in surprise, and pleasure, as the blonde was truly amazingly beautiful. Hearing the shriek coming from the bathroom woke Akane up and, seeing the door open, and her brother's absence, she figured out what the problem was and rushed over to the open doorway and yanked her brother, by his ear, out of the bathroom, apologising to her roomate after she had forced her brother away. When she turned back to face her brother, after closing the door behind her, She said, "Put...Your...Clothes...On...NOW!"

"R...r...right!" Arata replied, finally remembering that he was no longer in the house in which they shared a room, but in the Shinōreijutsuin, and hurriedly got dressed in the clothes that had not been changed since the siblings had got back the previous night. After he rapidly donned his clothes he left via the window, escorted by Akane's foot.

After Arata had left the blonde in the bathroom came into the room, half demanding, "Who was that?"

"That? That was my dumbshit brother. Again, I'm so sorry about that. I had to bring him in here last night because he got kind of drunk. Oh! I'm Akane by the way."

"I'm Kiyoko, and I can understand your problem with your brother. I have one of my own you know?"

"Uhh...no...I don't. I just met you."

"Oh! Right! I was asleep when you came in last night, wasn't I?"

"Yeah," Akane said, thinking, _'This person is a bit of a ditz, isn't she?'_

"Oh right, since we're roomies, we should probably get to know each other better, right?"

"Yeah sure, why not...so...what do you want to start with?"

"Okay, how about your brother?"

"Ararta? What do you want to know about him?"

"Well..." Kiyoko said, blood rushing to her face, "is he seeing someone at the moment?"

"Eh?" Akane said, stunned that her roommate was asking her that right of the bat.

"Well...you know...he's kinda hot...and lar..."

"I don't want to be hearing this," Akane screamed, "Lalalalala..." and continued on like that for about twenty seconds before seeing that Kiyoko had stopped. "Alright, first things first. I will _not,_ under any circumstances, assist you in seducing my brother, alright?"

"Oh fine," Kiyoko said, sulking. "Now, my question...what's your brother like?"

"HEY! Don't go off at me for..." Then Kiyoko looked at Akane's face and saw that she was joking, and laughed a bit herself, queueing Akane to do the same. "Seriously though, I need to have a shower and then let's go get some breakfast, I'm starving," Akane said, her stomach growling.

XXXXX

Ten minutes later the two girls went to the cafeteria, only to see Arata entering it as well. Akane called out to him, telling him to wait for them. He did. When they reached him, he said, "Hey...I'm really sorry about what happened earlier," looking at the as yet, to him, nameless blonde.

"Yeah, me too. Sorry about shrieking like that, I come from Hokutan, in west Rukongai, so there wasn't really that much sharing of rooms. Where do you guys come from?"

"We come from Kuchiba, in North Rukongai, so we're kind of used to it. So...once again...Sorry."

"Really? I thought that people from there were all...well...idiot's with muscles for brains and scars all over themselves...although...according to your sister you meet one of those conditions."

"Is that so?" Arata asked pointedly, glaring at his sister.

Akane, though, was stunned speechless by the actions of her roommate and her brother. When she got over her shock, she said, "Would the two of you please _not_ participate in flirting with each other at the breakfast table?"

The two participants simultaneously pointed at themselves and said, "Uhh..."

"YES! YOU TWO!" Akane shouted, drawing the attention of the entire hall to their table. Seeing the consequences of her hasty actions, Akane waved her hands in front of herself and said, "Sorry, sorry, nothing to see here," bowing at her waist at the end.

The rest of the students eventually turned back to their food and started talking amongst themselves once again. When they had Shin'ichi sat down beside Akane, opposite Arata, no food in his hands. Akane, hitting the obstruction as she cut into her bacon, looked up and saw her new friend. She said, "Oh! Shin'ichi! It's nice to see you again." Then, noticing his lack of food, she asked, "Where's your breakfast?"

"Oh, I had breakfast about an hour ago."

"An hour ago?! What the hell were you doing up at six?"

"I had another errand to take care of, so I wanted to take care of it nice and early so that I could spend the rest of the day with you guys."

"I see," Akane said, "you seem to have a lot of 'errands' to 'take care of', for someone who 'just got here'."

"Yeah...well...Anyway, while I was on the errand last night I found this cool cave that we could use for extra-curricular training."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I thought that we could go and check it out after you guys finished breakfast."

"Yeah sure, as long as you don't mind these two goin' at it in front of you."

"It shouldn't be a proble..." Shin'ichi said, seeing a female 6th year student with long, dark, hair and blue eyes enter the cafeteria. He thought, _'Tatsuki! Oh no, this' going to be a problem.'_

Seeing the person that she had been married to for much of her adult, living-world, life, albeit with green hair, Tatsuki practically yelled, "Ichi..." before Shin'ichi used Shunpo to stand next to her and clamp his hand over her mouth, before using a long-distance Shunpo to get them out of there so that he could talk to her and explain the situation. Of course she didn't take it too well and started struggling to get out of his grasp halfway through his 'step'. Eventually he had to let her go, cutting his step short by about a quarter. Tatsuki demanded, "Alright dear, what the hell's going on? Why'd you..."

Ichigo cut her off, saying, "Yeesh, even in death you won't let me get a word in."

"Hey! I'm askin..."

"I know what you're asking, and if you give me a damn minute, I'll explain everything."

"Alright, I'm listening," Tatsuki said, folding her arms, impatient for information.

"Okay, first things first. I died."

"Well that's blatantly obvi..."

"Yes yes," Ichigo said, not in the mood for his wife's antics. "Anyway, I asked Unohana-Sōtaichō what I should do, and she said that I should enrol in the Academy. Of course due to my exploits sixty odd years ago, I'm in some of the history classes."

"Some? Heh, you mean all!" Tatsuki commented.

"All of them?!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Anyway, Zangetsu sealed himself in order for me to pass as a regular student here. So from now on, in public, you need to refer to me as Aosaki Shin'ichi, alright?"

"Sure, but first things first..."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Who's the whore?"

"The what-now?"

"The bitch sitting next to you in there...I saw the way she was eyeing you!"

"Akane's not like that."

"She better not be."

"_Anyway,_" Ichigo pointedly said, "What's been happening with you?"

"Nothing much really. I'm acing Hakuda and Hohō. Not too shabby in Zanjutsu or Kidō, what about you?"

"Well, we're starting classes tomorrow, but I'm in advanced Zanjutsu, Hakuda and Hohō," Ichigo said, completely disregarding the fourth art.

"What about Kidō?"

Ichigo whispered, "Remedial."

"Rem..." Tatsuki said before laughing. "The great Kurosaki Ichigo, failing miserably at something. Who would've thought it?"

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up."

Tatsuki sighed before saying, "Seriously though, it's good to finally be able to see you again," and jumped up, kissing Ichigo not quite forcefully.

XXXXXXX

A/N

Translations

(1) Kenzaki Ryūsei = The adviser of Rurichiyo Kasumiōji, commonly referred to as Kenryū

(2) Asauchi = A sword without a Zanpakutō spirit dwelling inside it

(3) Hokutan = North End


	5. Ōnabara Gengorō

After the three other students finished heir breakfast Shin'ichi took them to the cavern that Yoruichi had taken him to in order for him to attain his Bankai in order to fight Kuchiki Byakuya on an even footing. Akane demanded, "How the Hueco Mundo did you find this place?"

"Luck," Shin'ichi said, "I saw the entrance when I was on my way back from that errand that I told you about this morning."

"I...see..." Akane said, still not completely satisfied with his excuse.

"At any rate, what do you think? Good enough?"

"Yeah, you bet it is," Arata said, getting annoyed at his sister's continued questioning of Shin'ichi's actions, which were clearly designed solely for their assistance, more than his own.

"Okay then," I would offer to start your training today Akane, but we don't really have any swords to practice with so..."

"Yeah, that's fine," Akane said.

Kiyoko said, "We should be receiving our Asauchi soon enough."

"Really?" Shin'ichi asked.

"Yeah. It was in the Shinōreijutsuin rulebook."

"The rulebook?"

"Yeah, it should have been on the top of the chest at the end of your bed."

"It might have been, it was kinda late when I got back last night, and it was dark when I first left today."

"An errand?"

"Yeah, I had to take a sword to a blacksmith I know," Ichigo explained, not really lying so much as stretching the truth.

"How'd you meet him?"

"I don't really know. I just ran into her this one time while I was going home one day. And she offered to make me this here baby," Shin'ichi said, his hand moving to his swords hilt.

"Hey Shin'ichi, what happened to that sword that that Kuchiki prick was using last night?" Akane asked.

"Oh, that was the errand that I told you about. I took it to that blacksmith. She offered to wipe the reiatsu from the sword so that I can use it as my own Asauchi."

"Wipe the reiatsu from it?"

"Something like that. I don't really get it myself."

"Apparently Asauchi take on the reiatsu of their wielder and gain a true form based upon their training and experiences...well...according to the rulebook," Kiyoko supplied.

"Well...okay," Ichigo said, thinking back on when he materialised Zangetsu for the first time, and how he had only ever used his sword in combat beforehand. "Anyway, we've got a whole day ahead of us, what do you want to do?" Ichigo asked, not really caring who answered.

Akane and Kiyoko looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Shopping!" and then dragged the two males around the market district of Seireitei, much to their horror.

XXXXX

The second day started much like the first. Ichigo got up at six, had a shower and got ready for the day ahead, wearing the Shihakushō of the academy. This time leaving his sword in his room. This was because, according to the academy rulebook, the possession of weapons for student up to fifth year outside the classroom could lead to potentially serious injuries should two or more students get into a 'disagreement' over something, or even injure themselves by doing something that those more experienced would know better than to do. He had the same pseudo-burger for breakfast, this time thinking of it as a burger rather than traditional Eggs Benedict, and found that it was actually kind of alright.

As he was finishing Akane, Kiyoko and Arata entered the cafeteria, Akane wearing the green ribbon that she had bought the previous day, holding her hair up in a high ponytail. Kiyoko wearing two blue ones, her hair mimicking Hinamori Momo's when she was in the academy. Ichigo headed off to find the room that his timetable told him that he should head to, to take his first class. When he finally found it there were only five minutes remaining till the class started, so he entered the room, there being no lock on the door, and found that there were already people in the room, having spent time the previous day finding out where their classes were being held rather than goofing around, or, that's how Ichigo thought of it. Fifteen minutes later the class started, some of the students missing, however Akane, Arata and Kiyoko were not amongst them, having gotten there just in time.

The lecturer said, "Alright, first things first, since this is your first year none of you should know me, so I'll introduce myself. I'm Ōnabara Gengorō, your teacher for the history of Soul Society, and your year co-ordinator."

One student raised his hand. After being allowed to speak, he said, "So, which one is your main capacity?"

"That depends. When you are here in this classroom, my main function is that of your teacher. If you are having any problems with the curriculum, or another student or teacher come to me outside of class, does that answer your question?"

"Yes sir," The student said.

"Ah! And I will not respond to 'Sir', 'Teacher', or in the case of someone last year 'Teach'. As I said, my name is Ōnabara Gengorō. You can refer to me as such. If there are still problems with that, then you can refer to me as Gen-san. Understand?"

There was a chorus of 'yes Gen-san', but one person said, "Yes sir."

Gengorō looked sharply up at the person that said that and said, "Aosaki!"

"Yes sir?" Ichigo continued to say.

"Are you disregarding my orders?"

"No sir," Ichigo said, causing the rest of the class to snigger. "I am merely following the rules outlined in the rulebook that was placed on the chest in my room," causing the rest of the student body to talk amongst themselves, regarding the rulebook, and this 'Aosaki's' ingenious way of going against the lecturer in such a way that there was no possible recourse.

Gengorō muttered, "That stupid rulebook, I thought that ridiculous rule had been changed."

"Very well Aosaki, you can call me whatever you like."

"How about Rose?"

"Ro..." Gengorō started to say, his face reddening. "Outside Aosaki! And I'll see you after class!"

"Yes sir," Ichigo said, exiting the classroom.

"The rest of you, don't get any funny ideas. You won't be getting out of class the same way."

XXXXX

After Ichigo left the room he used Shunpo to get back to his room and sat in the seiza position, using the Aikido form, on the floor, his sealed Zanpakutō on his lap. Almost immediately he was in his inner world. He said, "Hey, Zangetsu. How's it goin'?"

"..."

"Dammit! Now he's got _me_ doing it!"

"Literary errors aside, 'it' is doing fine...Why have you come here?"

"You should know why."

"I can guess."

"What do I do with a second Zanpakutō?"

"This is unknown territory here, but you could put 'Shiro' into it," Zangetsu suggested.

"I don't know...If he's a part of you then it would only make sense that I would only be able to use _his _powers through you."

"Very well. Then in that case you can only wait to see what comes of it."

"I guess," Ichigo sighed. "Can you call him out, I've got some time to kill, and I would like to make it productive...at least somewhat."

"Very well. In that case I shall control your bodies Reiatsu output."

"It's output?"

"Yes. Whilst it _is_ currently exceedingly low, all things considered, It will sky-rocket if the pair of you go all out in here."

Ichigo said, "Very well," and watched as Zangetsu faded from existence and 'Shiro' faded into existence.

"So, King, I hear that you've been asking about me? Miss me or something?"

"Believe me, I'd sooner do without, but unfortunately I don't really have much of a choice anymore now, do I?"

"No choice?"

"Yeah, I can't let my skills dull while I kick around in this academy."

"Oh...I see...so you've finally admitted your love of battle then?"

"No. Just the need to be prepared for it."

"Eh, same diff," Shiro scoffed, charging at Ichigo as he drew Zangetsu.

XXXXX

Their fight continued on for the forty-five minutes that Ichigo needed to while away, giving him enough time to get back to stand outside the classroom before the class ended. Five minutes after he arrived, the class filed out of the room, for a break. Gengorō called out, "Aosaki, come in."

"Yes, sir," Ichigo replied before entering the half-empty room.

After Ichigo was standing in front of him, Gengorō said, "I don't like jokes Aosaki. You were unaware so this time I'll let you off with a warning, but keep in mind that you are clearly yet to read the section of the rulebook that deals with meting out punishments. Up to and including expulsion."

"Can't I just rejoin next year?"

"No. If you get expelled there is a five year waiting period before you can attempt to join again, _if _we accept you that is. Keep in mind that you are merely student with the potential to be a Shinigami, not a Shinigami. The ways that that can happen are severely limited."

"Yes sir!" Ichigo said, realising that there would be some serious problems, both for The Shinigami Academy, and for himself, if he was expelled.

"Good, now, back to your seat," Gengorō said as the students started to file in.

Once Ichigo had returned to his seat he looked to Akane and asked, "So, what happened while I was outside?"

"Gengorō-san went over the curriculum for the semester."

"Okay, so what's happening?"

"The first week of the semester is devoted to the original form of the Gotei 13. Next week is the current form and function of the individual squads . Then we have a general test on the squads in the first class of the third week."

"What then?" Ichigo asked, writing what his friend was telling him in his style of shorthand.

"Well, he didn't say. But the students around us were hypothesising that it might be about Kurosaki-sama and how he affected Soul Society as a whole."

Ichigo thought, _'Dear _God_, I hope not,'_ not at all wanting to listen to some third party, who probably wasn't even there, waffle on about why he did, or did not, do something a certain way. He said, "Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

"Yeah, although I kind of hope that it won't be," Akane commented.

"Why's that?" Ichigo asked, kind of disappointed despite himself.

"Well, it's just that even in our class there are some people who've died their hair orange already," Akane said to Ichigo as she pointed towards a certain group near the front.

"Who knows," Ichigo commented, seeing that Gengorō was about to resume the lecture.


	6. History

After the break was over the students that had left the room filed back in, one after the other until all of the seats were filled. When they were all seated Gengorō said, "Alright, now that you are _all _seated, we can get started on the bulk of today's lesson. Seireitei as a whole is a place for those that have died in the World of the Living to come to to wait to be reborn as a new person...if they die of natural causes. If they don't then they dissipate into dust to become part of Seireitei...provided that the unnatural cause is not via a Hollow."

A girl with blue hair and grey eyes raised her hand. Once Gengorō had acknowledged her she asked, "I have two questions Gen-san."

"Yes...mm...Amayah wasn't it?"

"Yes. My first question is what happens if we are killed by a Hollow?"

"Ah. In that case you would become a part of the Hollow that killed you, further empowering it."

"Okayy, what if we die in the living world?"

"Ah. I was just getting to that. If you are killed in the living world you become part of the reishi in the surrounding area." Gengoro thought, _'There is a step further, but that's no longer in the curriculum.' _"Okay, those were good questions. However, if you would hold most questions until the end, I will likely have answered them all by then." Gengoro looked at random students, making it seem as if he were looking at every one of them. When he saw them nod he continued. "Before the foundation of the Thirteen Protection Squads, more commonly known as the Gotei 13, the number of regular Hollow attacks numbered in the hundreds. This was relatively easily accomplised due to the limited order in the regions around Seireitei, similar to how the regions numbered seventy and above are _still _run. The Gotei 13, founded by ex-Sōtaichō(1) Yamamoto, rose up to defend against the many attacks by the Hollow."

A green haired male raised his hand and, getting Gengoro's permission to continue, said, "Did the Hollow have a leader?"

"A leader?"

"Well, if they were attacking the way that you claim, then it would only make sense that they were united under someone, correct?"

Gengoro thought, _'Now there's a worrying thought,' _but said, "Hollows are mindless beasts that try to devour living souls to replace their own that was lost the minute that they became a Hollow. As such, they do not have the capacity for logical thought and planning. Some Hollow possess a more cunning mind than others, allowing them to successfully infiltrate Seireitei. Now, I will _not_ be answering any more questions as pertains to Hollows and their habits. That is covered at a later point." There was a cacophony of 'yes' and 'got it'. "Good," Gengoro continued, "Now, where was I?"

Ichigo called out, "You were up to the bit where the Gotei 13 was created in order to fend off a hoard of Hollow."

"Right. Thank you Aosaki. Now, the 13 Squads didn't truly exist as it is today for about fifty years after that, there being only 13 members and five of their direct subordinates. Those seventy-eight Shinigami earned the name, due to their immense strength, matched only by their desire to win at all costs. The names of most of the Shinigami that took part in that battle are lost to time, however the current Captain-Commander, Unohana Retsu, alongside the ex-Captain Commander and his lieutenant...I can never remember his name...are all said to have been present. As are Captain Ukitake Jūshirō and ex-Captain Kyōraku Shunsui."

Gengoro took a breather, letting the information sink into his students minds before continuing, "Currently the The Gotei 13 serves as a military force with its primary responsibilities consisting of The defense of the Seireitei, which, as some of you are aware, is the centre of Soul Society; The deployment of Division members into enemy territory for combat operations; The deployment of Task Forces as defensive measures in the World of the Living and guiding the souls of the recently deceased to the Soul Society. But originally its mission was the simple eradication of all hollow, no matter what. After almost twenty years of constant fighting the founding members came to the conclusion that such a goal was untenable, so changed their methods to the simple protection of those that are deceased, earning the name 'Defenders'. It is _my_ opinion that they didn't accept the name change due to a lesser impact in comparison to that of a 'God of Death'." Then there was a bell that sounded over the PA system, indicating that the students were to move off to their next class, Zanjutsu: Theory.

XXXXXXX

A/N

I apologise in advance, but there is going to be a series of short chapters coming up. This is due to the first day being a bludge

(1) ex-Sōtaichō = Ex-Captain Commander


	7. Zanjutsu

Author's Notes

Hatake's offspring

There will be an entire book dealing with what happened to Kyōraku

Gold Testament

If I haven't already told you, Tatsuki and Ichigo are remaining together, Arata is interested in Kiyoko

XXXXXXX

It took the students about ten minutes to get to their next class. When they were there, Shin'ichi took a seat next to Arata, both wanting to keep as far away from Daiki as they could. The lecturer was already standing in front of the class. It was Aloysius. When all were seated Aloysius said, "Hello everyone. You should all know me from the test, but my name is Kuchiki Aloysius. Before any of you decide to have a problem with my taking your class, keep in mind that I have absolutely zero problems in keeping my personal life separate to my professional one." Aloysius paused to let any of his students raise their doubts. "Okay. Now, you are all here to learn how to be a Shinigami, correct?" There were a lot of nods from the class. "Gengoro-san would have told you a basic history of Seireitei, correct?" More nods. "Good. Now, the primary form of combat for most Shinigami is with zanjutsu." A brown haired girl raised her hand. "Yes...Seiko I believe it was..."

Seiko said, "Yes, Kuchiki-sensei. You just said 'most' shinigami, but I thought that a significant number of shinigami primarily use some of the other arts as a primary form of combat," prompting some of the other students to giggle.

"Yes," Aloysius said, "However, all of those shinigami that you were just talking about, also have a Zanpakutō of their own and have varying levels of skill in its use." The giggling stopped. "One example of someone that does this is the captain of Squad Two. Soi Fon uses a combination of techniques that you will learn about in your last two classes; Hakuda and Hohō. How_ever_ she is also very skilled in the use of her Zanpakutō. That aside you are in this class now and I would very much appreciate it if you focused more on what this class is about, rather than those that you are yet to take."

Some of the class laughed at how easily Aloysius had manipulated the flow of the conversation back to what he wanted to talk about, not letting the student dictate the direction that the class was going in. "Now, I'm sure that that gasbag Gengorō said something along the lines of 'I'll answer all of your questions in the course of my lecture', right?" There was a chorus of affirmations. "Well, I'm going to tell you that that will _not _be happening in this class. I am going to take my time in this class and hopefully convey some of the theories behind the art of Zanjutsu before I let you put them into practice in the practical class after this one. Any questions?"

A black haired male, called Saito, asked, "I know that this might infringe upon Gen-sensei's class..."

"Go on..."

"What did shinigami use before they started to use Zanpakutō?"

Aloysius frowned in thought, thinking back on all of his experiences. He said, "You know...I'm not really sure. I'll look into it for you and get back to you tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"Anything else?" There was no reply. "Alright. There are five different types of practice sword that are available for your use. I'm not going to ask you to decide straight off the bat, but at some point this year you will need to choose a specific type and stick with it. Be very careful when making it too because when you receive your Asauchi it will be the same type of blade as that of the sword that you have been training with." He paused to let the information sink in. "Despite any specific blade types that they have, for ease of use all practice swords here are called bokken. There are two overriding types; nihontō and cruciform(1). The nihontō all have a single edged blade whereas the cruciform blades are all double-edged. There are subtypes within the nihontō blades; We have two types of Daitō and one type each of Shoto and Tantō."

Saito blurted, "What's with the different names if they are all single edged?"

"For the most part there is no differences in the blades, the names are referencing their respective lengths. The tantō and shoto blades, however, are a different shapes. As, even though they can both be used to complete a daishō, the tantō is more commonly used alongside a single-bladed, straight- edged blade like a chokutō, whereas a shoto is more commonly used in reference to a blade like a kodachi, or wakizashi. First off, holding your sword. For most longer blades two hands are required to use a sword properly..." A student with an orange mohawk raised their hand. "...this is so you don't drop it. Of course, as those in the Kuro-kenpachi-Fanclub know, there are some, like Kurosaki Ichigo and the current Eleventh Squad Captain, Kenpachi Zaraki, that do not do this. This is because their Zanpakutō are full-time release type Zanpakutō. This means that they are constantly in their initial release states."

Aloysius paused to think over the students' course before continuing on. He said "Gengorō will delve further into why that is, just be satisfied that it is _not _a desirable occurrence." Shin'ichi grimaced. "You are welcome to try and come up with your own style of fighting in the second year coursed, but for now you _will_ do as I tell you. Understood?" There were a chorus of affirmations. "Including you Aosaki." Shin'ichi slunk down in his chair, feeling the entire class turn to glare at him. "Alright, eyes on me," Aloysius said, getting the students focused back on him. "I'll start the class with telling you that in my class you will be learning Kendo, which means 'The Way of the Sword'. Do not think that it is by any means pretentious as it is a codified amalgamation of many different types of swordsmanship created by Ex-Captain-Commander Yamamoto for use in this academy..."

Daiki thought, _'Kendo! Great, now my training in the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū School of kenjutsu will be completely worthless. Damn that ol' geezer.'_

"...While I can use a number of different styles myself, I have chosen to teach you all kendo because I know that some of you here," he looked at Daiki and Shin'ichi, "already have experience in using different styles. Kendo," Aloysius said, quickly moving on, "is a martial art consisting of two categories of techniques. Would anyone like to guess what those are?"

A girl with orange hair tied into a spiked ponytail, Ayumi, said, "Attack and counter-attack?"

"Yes," Aloysius said, thinking, _'Not another Kurosaki supporter!'_ as the girl was sitting away from the rest of the orange haired students, as hers was natural. "There are six different theories behind attack in kendo, alongside four ones dealing with how to counter-attack. For the first two weeks we shall be focusing solely on three of these theories, Tobikomi-waza, Hikibana-waza and Nuki-waza. Tobikomi-waza refers to when to initiate your attack on your opponent. Hikibana-waza is the method that you use to attack. Nuki-waza has you avoid your opponents attack and then attacking immediately afterwards."

Ayumi asked, "Sensei...?"

"Yes?"

"Near where I lived there as a swordsman that was said to be able to strike at the same time as he was drawing his sword."

"Ah. That uses a technique called Iaido. There are many different ways to go about it, but I won't be covering them this semester. Now, since time is up for the theory, I want you all to come up here and pick the bokken that you will be using in the practical class that will be starting as soon as you have done so. Since I don't want a big rush, the first row will choose first." The first row chose their bokken, followed by the second and so on and so forth, Saito and Seiko each taking a daitō type bokken. Ayumi, like Daiki also took katana variants of Daitō when it was their turn. When it eventually got to their turn, which was last as they were sitting on the corner of the back row, Arata also drew a katana variant Daitō, as did Arisu. Shin'ichi, however, broke the overarching mould of taking a daitō class blade by choosing a tantō. Aloysius, in a loud voice, said, "Aosaki!"

"Yes?" Shin'ichi said.

"Why did you take a tantō?"

"I thought that we were allowed to take any blade we liked?"

"You can of course, but you already have your own chokutō." Aloysius stopped there, letting Shin'ichi insert the original question.

"Oh," Shin'ichi said, "I recently came into the acquisition of a tanto, so I thought that I'd take the opportunity to learn how to use it."

"I see," Aloysius said, mostly satisfied with the reasoning. "I'd like to talk to you after class."

"Alright," Ichigo half asked, the students around him commenting that he had somehow managed to get on the bad side of two of their lecturers already. Aloysius made a note to talk to his student about it later.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, in the intermediate class, Akane and Kiyoko were sitting next to Amayah and Koichi, both of whom were equally uninterested in the class, which wasn't all that surprising as, alongside their desire to focus on other areas of shinigami combat, the first thing that their lecturer had said was, "I'm a retainer to the Kasumiōji Clan. I am here as a punishment for failing to prevent Kasumiōji Rurichiyo-sama from making a grave error which resulted in the destruction of a large part of the Clan Compound." Followed by, "All of you here are unlikely to be overly successful as swordsmen, but you need to have some grounding in swordsmanship, which may, or may not be built upon when you get into one of the squads."

The students in the basic class were having a lesson that completely eradicated the practical aspects of the lessons, focusing only on the theoretical concepts. The remedial class did push-ups.

XXXXXXX

A/N

(1) All bokken are Suburito blades, which have a hilt that is smaller than the 'blade'


	8. The Order Of Amaryllis

When the class was done Shin'ichi was more embarrassed than he was impressed. As he was the only one in the class to have taken a tanto as a weapon he had no one to practice with. He spent over an hour swinging his sword at nothing, making a complete jackass of himself. At the same time he provided his inner hollow with endless amounts of amusement. When they were done Daiki commented, "Did you end up hitting your opponent Aosaki?" before laughing, along with the entire class, minus Arata at any rate.

Shin'ichi said, "No," considering it answer enough for the arrogant Kuchiki.

Daiki commented, "Well, I guess that there's really no helping the helpless," in an attempt to gain the admiration of their classmates. It was proven successful as the rest of the class, minus Arata, who had seen Shin'ichi effortlessly deal with Daiki in the bar, and the twins, Seiko and Saito, who had no time to pay to any who were so superficial as to comment on something that was, quite frankly, out of their classmate's control.

Most of the class clustered around Daiki as Aloysius called out, "Alright, tomorrow I will come back with information on where you went wrong in today's training so that you can work on those areas in pairs that I shall assign you tomorrow," as the students filed out of his classroom, headed outside for their break. Shin'ichi stayed, sitting down on top of one of the first row desks. When the rest of the students had left, Aloysius turned on Shin'ichi, crossed his arms, and frowned as he said, "Alright, spill it. Where did you manage to get your hands on an Asauchi? Even ignoring the fact that the type you recently acquired fits the base requirements of a daishō, you don't just 'come across' one lying on the ground."

"Does it really matter?"

"Not to me, no. However, someone seems to be messing in matters concerning the noble Kuchiki Clan, and I was wondering if that Asauchi you 'found' once belonged to Daiki."

"Supposing it did, what would you do?"

"Hypothetically speaking, I don't really know. I suppose that the first thing that I would do would be to inform Byakuya-dono about it. After which he would put in a requisition with the Central 46 for them to force you to return it to its rightful owner. If you didn't give me reason enough not to that is."

"Well, hypothetically, if I managed to take it to a blacksmith that I know that can cleanse it of residual reiatsu, and reforge it into a completely different blade type, would that be enough of a reason?"

"So, hypothetically, Daiki has no true claim to the blade anymore?" Aloysius asked as he thought, '_There is only one family of blacksmiths that can cleanse and reforge a Kuchiki clan member's blade once the wielder has started to bond with the blade. The Kasumiōji. If Shin'ichi is somehow in with the Kasumiōji then he's no ordinary student._' He smirked and said, "Okay, I'm satisfied that there is no threat to either Daiki, or you, by your possession of his previous sword. Since you now possess two swords instead of just the one, you'll need to learn how to use them, won't you?"

"Well yeah, I thought that I'd just try and figure it out myself."

"Nonsense. Just come to the third exercise hall after classes have finished for the day and I'll teach you personally. Of course, in class you will need to stick with just the one, after all, things need to be kept at least somewhat fair in the classroom."

"Agreed," Shin'ichi said, standing up and leaving to go and find Arata, wherever he was.

XXXXX

Five minutes later Shin'ichi found Arata lazing about under a tree, sitting near his sister and Kiyoko. He sat down, not saying a word, despite all three glaring at him. As he started to lay back to stare at the clouds flying overhead, he was stopped when Arata demanded, "Alright, spill it."

"Spill what?" Shin'ichi 'innocently' asked.

"What did Aloysius-sensei want to talk to you about?"

"Oh, just about my performance in class," Shin'ichi said, accompanied with mocking laughter.

"What happened?" Akane asked, getting even more curious.

"Well…" Shin'ichi droned, "Aloysius-sensei had our class pick a random bokken in order for us to use to practice our kendo."

"Wait! You guys actually had a practical class?"

"Well yeah. Why?"

"Kenryū-sensei was somewhat…"

"Less than enthusiastic," Kiyoko supplied.

"Yes. That'll do."

Shin'ichi thought, '_Kenryū? What the hell is he doing here?_' "So…why not?"

"He says that since we are less likely to progress past basic swordsmanship skills, our time, right now, is better spent on the theoretical side of swordsmanship rather than the practical." Akane leaned in before whispering, "But, if you ask me, I think its just that he can't use a sword himself."

Daiki heard Akane's theory as he was walking past with his three cronies and barked a laugh at her statement. He said, "Don't be ridiculous, Kenzaki Ryūsei is the bodyguard of the leader of one of the more important lesser noble families, and the Kasumiōji take care of taking care of the maintenance of the Zanpakutō of noble family members. There's no way that he is inept in the use of a sword."

"Oh," Akane said, "I didn't know that."

"Of course you couldn't, those from common stock would never understand noble society."

"Now se…"

"Don't bother Akane," Shin'ichi said, "it's nothing more than a waste of time, trying to get people to change their beliefs if they have been ingrained since birth. Of course, over time, well…" Shin'ichi left his sentence open, letting each of the gathered students to fill in the rest.

Daiki growled and said, "Don't think I've forgotten the humiliation from the other night. I _will_ defeat you. Especially if you continue on like you were today." Daiki smirked, his sense of superiority once more inflated to its previous level, and walked off, his cronies in tow.

Kiyoko asked, "What's his problem?" once their antagonists were out of earshot.

"It's nothing really," Shin'ichi offhandedly remarked.

"Nothing?!" Akane exclaimed, "You only took the Kuchiki heir to school…in front of a largish audience."

"He…what?" Kiyoko asked, not familiar with the slang used in the outer districts.

"He easily defeated Daiki-san in a battle the other day, after we were accepted into the academy."

"That…couldn't have been easy," Kiyoko stated.

"You would think so, but it almost seemed like Shin'ichi-san could…"

"I'm right here you know," Shin'ichi said, somewhat irritated by being gossiped about right in front of him.

"Right," Akane said, acknowledging his presence before continuing on from before.

Then something strange happened. A student from the fourth form appeared in front of them and bowed. He said, "Forgive the intrusion, but I have a very important matter to discuss with Aosaki-dono."

"Oh," Shin'ichi said in a droll tone. "And what would that be exactly?"

"If we could talk in private?" the student asked, his eyes flickering from one of Shin'ichi's friends to the next.

"No," Shin'ichi stated in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Well…it is irregular, but if you are saying that you will tell them either way, then there is no choice in the matter," the, clearly, messenger said. "Aosaki-dono. You have received the great honour of joining the Order of the Amaryllis."

"The WHAT?!" Shin'ichi loudly exclaimed.

"Please, calm down," the still, as yet, unknown student said. "The Order exists only within the academy. It's actually quite prestigious, so only those most suitable are invited. In addition to which, most of its members have received seated positions in one of the squads upon graduation."

"You hear that Shin'ichi, you should join them."

"Hmm…wait a sec. You said in _one_ of the squads, right?" The messenger nodded. "Which squad would that be exactly?"

"Why, the most exciting squad of all, the Eleventh."

"No thanks," Shin'ichi stated, having no desire to do anything of the sort.

"I'm sorry. In my haste I may have been somewhat vague in my message." Shin'ichi frowned, not liking the direction that the conversation was taking. "You have no choice in the matter."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that your membership in the Order is not up to you. It has already been deci…"

Shin'ichi cut him off. "I'm not interested. Now, move along."

The messenger sighed and said, "Very well Aosaki-san, since you will not accept willingly, then we shall have to force you."

"Force me?" Shin'ichi asked, his tone promising danger should he not like the answer.

"I'll be seeing you," the messenger said, leaving via an approximation of Shunpō.

Shin'ichi looked at his friends and thought, '_I don't know what he meant by force me, but the only way that they could do that is by taking my friends hostage. Even then, I could just beat them easily enough anyway if that messenger is anything to go by. But still, if he's right and all of these Amaryllis guys get seats in Zaraki's squad…_' he looked at Akane and said, "Akane. It looks like I'll be taking a slightly different approach to your training."

Akane asked, "A different approach? What do you mean?"

"I mean that there is no way that they can force me to do anything I don't want to. But they don't know that and I want you to be ready for anything they might try."

"But then wouldn't it be easier to train Ara…"

"No."

"Why?"

"You are relatively inexperienced. And I've never tried to help anyone further themself before. As such you are easier to teach. Originally I was just going to focus on the theories that you had been taught and give you practical experience using those, but that idea just went out the window thanks to that guy."

"What do you mean?"

Shin'ichi said, "Training starts at the end of the week," before disappearing via Shunpō.

Kiyoko said, "That was…"

"Yeah, he likes to do that," Akane said, by now used to her friends disappearing at will.

"Oh, I see. Wait! It's not a matter of 'I see' this is serious. How can a student manage to use something as advanced as Shunpō?"

"I don't know, but it goes a long way to explain how he fought against Daiki."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know about Arata, but I couldn't even follow Daiki's movements when they were fighting, but Shin'ichi almost effortlessly followed and countered everything Daiki did."

"Oh," Kiyoko said, now truly interested in Shin'ichi. She thought, '_I wonder if he could help me work on my speed, especially if Shin'ichi-san is preparing Akane-san for a worst case scenario._'

XXXXX

Almost as soon as he had disappeared from his three friends Ichigo appeared in front of Kenryū, who was still collecting his papers from his last class. Kenryū didn't even look up to say, "You know, you should probably stop using Shunpō to get from one place to another if the idea is to hide your identity."

"Well, I don't really have to, since the lecturers already know I can, so right now I'm just a prodigy."

Kenryū scoffed and said, "There's an understatement if ever I've heard one." Ichigo smirked. "So, what do you want this time?"

"Who says I want anything?" Ichigo asked.

Kenryū did not buy it for a second and called him on his bluff. "If that were the case you wouldn't have to Shunpō in here like the God of Flash."

"They _still_ have that title?"

"Of course."

Ichigo sighed and said, "at any rate. Do you remember a student from your last class, Kajikawa Akane?"

"Kajikawa…Kajikawa…ah! Yes. She was more attentive than the rest of the class."

"Well, I need a sword for her by the end of the week."

"A…why?" Kenryū asked, confused by Ichigo's request.

Ichigo sighed before answering, "I'm afraid that I may have done something rather stupid."

"No! You! Really!?" Kenryū stated, not that surprised.

"Yeah. It seems that I may have somewhat underestimated the fanaticism of the Order of Amaryllis."

"They're still around?" Kenryū asked, having had bad experiences with them when he was going through the academy.

"Yeah, and I just refused to join them."

"And you're concerned about what they might do to get you to join?"

"More or less."

"I see. Alright, I'll see what I can do."

"That's all I ask," Ichigo said. Then the bell tolled for the next class.


End file.
